Recently I was talking with some colleagues for whom gaming begins and ends at the Games Workshop store. I was trying to explain how I was able to collect SAGA armies without either breaking the bank or buying from a single line of figures.
The only analogy that seemed to get through to them was when I pointed out to one of them his resin Death Korp of Krieg army and the other his 30K Space Marine army. Both are from Forge World, which is as close as one gets to an alternate vendor in the 40K world. Sure there are a few vendors for shoulder pads or replacements for long ago discontinued metals, but they aren't cheap, common, or welcome in GW tournaments.
The guys still seemed confused. "But how do you know you're buying hearthguard figures?" "What if someone else thinks they're warlords?" It's hard to wrap your mind around just putting figures on the board when there isn't a $2,000 collection of rulebooks to guide your purchases. Caveat emptor!
Here's my list of sources for SAGA miniatures:
Artizan - a nice line of characterful figures. Notable for having a full line of Franks. Spears not included.
Black Tree Designs - their sculpts are mostly middle of the road, as is their pricing, but they frequently run ridiculous sales that make it easy to come away with a large bag of perfectly good metal soldiers for a silly price. Keep an eye out.
Brother Vinni's - a Russian company doing a few resins of figures you may know from a show about Norse raiders.
Conquest Games - a small range of metals, including an impressive number of monks, largely a complement to their plastics.
Conquest Miniatures - yes, it's a different company. They do a lot of French and Indian War miniatures, which means their 17th/18th century native warriors are perfect for Skraelings. Nice sculpts. A little on the small side; pairs well with Foundry.
Crusader - an extensive line of Dark Age miniatures, on the thicker side, spears not included.
Curtey's - their focus is Romano-British and early Saxon, but much of that range is perfect for SAGA. Beautiful sculpts, including a line of civilians.
Dixon - small line of Vikings, notable for having some interesting packs that would make for nice vignettes or scenery enhancements. Oddly, Vikings have spears but no shields.
eBob - a little line of slim, beautifully sculpted Normans on foot. Spears are attached.
Footsore (used to be Musketeer) - a nice line of Viking miniatures, though many can be used as generic Dark Age types. Sold through Gripping Beast.
Gripping Beast - distributors of SAGA, they're the default choice for many gamers. Nice figures although several folks have reported excess flash and model issues on recent metal orders. Still, a broad line with interesting sculpts and non-combatants which is a plus.
Newline Designs - they carry the usual Normans, Vikings, and Saxons, but also Carolingians and Arabs.
Old Glory - Old Glory are a mixed bag. Some of the ranges are older and therefore smaller and to a lesser standard. Others are much more modern than many people given them credit for. A very impressive line of figures by any measure.
Perry Miniatures - not a specifically Dark Age line, their First Crusade range features figures that work well for Normans and Byzantines, includes generic civilians and monks. Perfect for Crescent & Cross players.
Redoubt Miniatures - have a Viking line that works as generic Dark Age types.
Renegade Miniatures - a line of Saxons, quite a few sculpts.
Saxon Miniatures - a growing line of beautifully detailed Vikings and Saxons
Shieldwall Miniatures - a small line of nicely sculpted Vikings. Distributed by Gripping Beast.
Stronghold Terrain - tiny line of very nice individual figures, several of which may look very much like characters from a historical drama on television about Norse raiders.
Tanatus Miniatures - a small range of Saxon and Pict miniatures, a bit more realistic proportioning than Crusader and Black Tree Designs.
V&V Miniatures - Ukrainian company, resin, little known, but they appear to be beautifully sculpted. Planning to order some figures soon for comparison.
Wargames Foundry - an attractive line of Vikings, Saxons, and Normans. A bit on the short side, but quite usable. Lots of characterful sculpts.
Warlord Games - included in the interest of being complete. Other than selling Gripping Beast Plastics and a model of a Viking ship, they sell one (1) metal figure for the Dark Ages. They seem to realize that they got to this era late (Hail Caesar be damned) and figured "why bother".
West Wind - a line of Irish, Saxons, and notably, Welsh. Spears not included.
The plastics of SAGA will have to be another post. This post just kept getting longer and longer as I discovered or remembered new ones. The buildings list will have to wait as well. For now, I'm going to sleep.
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